The Caged Bird
by chibi-esque
Summary: Konoha's ninjas go on a mission not far from home and bring back a kunoichi being hunted down by the Akatsuki.Konoha accepts her as one of their own but because of that, many lives could be forfeited... There will be spoilers!Possible pairings inside.
1. Prologue

This is my first fan fiction. I hope you like it! **Please review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Naruto****! I wish I did… **

**The Caged Bird**

**Prologue **

The room was cold. There was a wooden table and a chair. A small bed with a metalframe and a thin worn down mattress was placed in a corner. There were no windows, just a steel door which was locked on the outside. The door could only be opened by a select few. A small candle placed on top of the table was the only source of light. The occupant of this room was a small girl, about eight years old. Her hands and feet were bound with ropes made of chakra and near impossible to break. Even in the dim lighting, it was obvious she would grow up to be quite a beauty.

The door opened. And shut. Now there were two occupants in this room. The man had long, black hair which was tied at the end. He was wearing a Konoha forehead protector but it had a large scratch through the middle. He had a long black robe on with red cloud patterns on it. But his eyes… His eyes were blood-red. It had a black pinwheel pattern in the middle of each eye. The infamous Mangekyo Sharingan. And she was staring at its owner, Uchiha Itachi.

Itachi looked down cold and impassive at the little girl. He knelt down locking his gaze onto hers. The girl struggled but it was futile. There was no way she could escape the Mangekyo Sharingan of his. The girl found herself tied onto a cross. There was a red moon hanging in the sky flooding the illusion with a blood red light. The Uchiha was staring impassively at her with a katana blade in his hand. Whatever he said to her was lost in her ears as she realized the situation at hand. Then, the screaming began.

A few moments later, Uchiha Itachi stepped back out of the room. Kisame, his partener, was waiting beside the door. "You used Mangekyo Sharingan on a little girl? That's very cruel of you," Kisame said with a smirk. "Since when did you start to care about others?" Itachi said coldly. "Heh, true enough," Kisame acknowledged. "Is she dead? I wanted to cut off a limb or two…" "What do you want?" Itachi snapped. "Well… the boss says he wants to see you right now. He's in basement 2," Kisame told him lightly. Itachi turned around and walked down the empty corridor leaving his blue friend behind.

-------------Basement 2----------------

"Well?" a shadowed figure impatiently asked Itachi. "It seems she doesn't have it," he replied without a trace of emotion. "I suppose you and Kisame will have to go retrieve her sister." "And what about the search for the Bijuu?" Itachi asked. "Why? Are you worried that you will not get yours?" the leader retorted mockingly. Itachi gave the leader a cold, malicious stare. "Her power is a great asset to our plans," the leader continued staring right back at Itachi. "It is essential that you and Kisame find her and bring her back alive." "And what should I do with the little girl?" Itatchi inquired. "Keep her alive. She may be of some use to us," the leader said dismissively. The shadowed figure disappeared and Itachi walked out of the door to alert Kisame of their new mission.

A.N: Well? What are you waiting for? Review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Please?) The story will get better as it goes on! Keep on reading!


	2. Chapter 1

Hope you like it! This story takes place after the time skip after the Garra Rescue arc.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto!

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 1**

It was a fine morning in Konoha. Neji was practising his palm strikes with Hinata. Hiashi Hyuga, his uncle, was overlooking their practise with mild interest. He did acknowledge that Hinata had improved greatly but Neji, was by far, the superior especially when it came to using the Byakugan.

Hinata was struggling. She had tried to find an opening but every time she attempted to strike, Neji would flawlessly block them. Hinata was being pushed back now and Neji saw a small opening. With a powerful blast, he sent Hinata flying back. Before she could recover, Neji was right in front of her posed to strike a fatal pressure point. He allowed himself a small smirk as he deactivated his Byakugan. Hinata did the same with a small sigh.

"You did better today Hinata, " Hiashi spoke. "But you still lack confidence in your attacks." "You should work more on your-" He was interrupted as a loud obnoxious voice called for Neji from the front door. "NEJI? You in there? Come on out! Granny Tsunade's got a mission for you!" Neji sighed. "May I be excused?" he asked politely to Hiashi. Hiashi nodded gravely.

After much banging and yelling from Naruto, a quick shower, and yelling AT Naruto, Neji stepped into Tsunade's office. "Good morning Tsunade-sama," he said politely. The office had mounds of paperwork (which the lazy Hokage didn't do) piled on top of each other. Just then, someone knocked on the office door. Tenten, the weapons specialist, stepped in with Rock Lee and Might Guy. All the members of Team Guy was standing in front of Tsunade, the fifth Hokage. "This will be an A-rank mission but depending on the situation, it might change to an S-rank mission," Tsunade said gravely. "However, the mission will not take you far from Konoha." "What makes this mission so dangerous?" Tenten inquired. Tsunade replied with a frown. "It involves Akatsuki members. In fact you have fought with this Akatsuki member before. The ex- Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Kisame Hoshigaki." Team Guy all looked surprised. Neji frowned and said," What would bring Akatsuki members so close to Konoha? Is it because of…?" "No, surprisingly it's not because of Naruto," Tsunade replied. "Itachi and Kisame have passed the borders into the Country of Fire. But, they were chasing someone." "Do you know who this someone is?" Gai asked with concern. "Well… we don't know who this person is but my ANBU spies tell me they've been chasing this someone for quite a while. Your mission is to find out who this person is. Bring him/her back to Konoha if she/he isn't posed as a threat. If this person is an enemy, capture him/her and an ANBU squad will soon arrive to deal with the situation. Oh, and try to avoid a fight with the Akatsuki members. They are S-rank criminals after all." "But aren't we too small of a team to take down 2 Akatsuki members if we do fight?" Tenten objected. "Don't worry," Tsunade replied. "Sakura? Come in."

The door opened and a pink haired ninja stepped in. "Sakura will be your medic-nin for this mission," Tsunade explained. Lee looked positively thrilled. There was a poof beside the Hokage and Kakashi appeared. "I'm sorry I'm late," he started to say but Tsunade interrupted him with a smirk. "You're on time!" "WHAT?" Kakashi looked astonished. So did everyone else. "I purposely told you an earlier time than this so you would be on time," she explained with a smirk. "I'm a genius!"she said patting herself on the back. Tsunade turned back towards Team Guy. "Sakura and Kakashi have both been briefed on this mission. Might Guy will be the team leader." The Hokage suddenly frowned. She looked up at the ceiling and yelled,"NARUTO UZUMAKI! GET DOWN FROM THERE THIS INSTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" There was a frantic scramble from above and a ceiling tile broke as a very dusty Naruto fell onto the Hokage's desk. "Uhhhhhhhh… can I go with them on this mission?" Naruto asked hopefully. As Team Guy, Sakura and Kakashi walked out of the office, they could hear Naruto being yelled at by Tsunade for eavesdropping on a mission briefing.

A.N.: I promise next chapter will be better! PLEASE review!!! Some helpful hint would be nice too!


	3. Chapter 2

When words are in _italic_ , it's their thoughts. There will be swearing (but not much!)

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Naruto**

**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 2**

"Is everyone ready?" exclaimed Might Guy. "Alright! We will show those evil villains the power of youth!" Guy sensei did his 'nice guy' pose. "Yes Guy sensei!" Lee replied enthusiastically.

---------------------5 hours later-----------------

The ninjas from Konoha were nearing the border between the country of the leaf and the country of the grass. "Can we stop for a break?" Tenten asked. "We can't take a break here," Neji contradicted. "We have to be on the lookout for Akatsuki members." "It's a good idea to activate your Byakugan now Neji," Kakashi suggested. _Byakugan_Neji scanned the area. "I see them!" he said. "There are 3 people up ahead fighting!" The ninjas all stopped as Neji examined the intruders. "They're about 700m away from us. One of them has a crazy amount of chakra. Kisame's, I'm assuming." They all nodded. Team Guy had fought with Kisame before when they went to rescue Garra from the evil clutches of Akatsuki.

"Itatchi and Kisame are ganging up on the third person but the person's putting up a good fight," Neji explained. "That probably means whoever this person is, is very strong," Kakashi said with a trace of impatience. "We should get going." They departed with Neji in the lead. _Hmm…_Neji was thinking. He was studying this third person's chakra circulatory system. _There's something strange about this person's chakra circulatory system. I just can't place it. _Neji shook off such thoughts. _I'll get to it later. _

The Konoha ninjas were now less than 100 metres away. Gai stopped them. "Okay! With our youthfulness, we will observe these intruders!" "Hai, Guy sensei!" Lee replied enthusiastically as ever. As they approached closer to the fight, they slowed down, and proceeded with more caution. Suddenly, a very strong wave of chakra was emitted from the third person. "Oh crap…" Neji muttered. "Everyone, jump as high as you can!" he yelled. Everyone except for Sakura obeyed on command. She faltered a moment too long and the wave of chakra caught her full force sending her flying back. "Sakura-chan!" Lee cried out in dismay. As soon as they landed on the remaining thick branches of the trees, they could see the massive amount of damage the wave of chakra had done. Some trees were completely flattened while others were missing most of its branches. Lee immediately sped towards Sakura. Gai took hold of the situation. "I will wait for my youthful student to return. We will catch up in no time! Kakashi, my eternal rival, will be the co-captain of this mission! Proceed with caution and stop when you can see the fighting. Just observe. Don't get involved in the fight until Sakura, my youthful student and I arrive!" Kakashi, Tenten and Neji gave a quick nod.

Neji was staring intently at the third person's chakra circulatory system. The wave of chakra had come from the third person and it couldn't be a good sign. Then, something changed. The normal amount of chakra being distributed shifted violently as something that resembled a seal inside the person's body broke. His eyes widened with disbelief. _Holy crap!_ Neji thought. "Neji, what's wrong?" Tenten asked with concern. His normally calm face was now masked by shock and surprise. "There was some sort of a chakra seal inside the third person's body. There's massive amount of chakra pouring out of her!" Neji quickly explained. "Her? So this mystery person's a girl?" Kakashi asked. "Yes. Definitely a girl," Neji assured. "How would you know?" Tenten questioned. "Because there's so much chakra around her that I can see almost a clear view of her, not just the chakra circulatory system," Neji snapped back. _Not __only that _Neji thought, _I can'__t even see the chakra circulatory __system! She's controlling the chakra's flow by her pure will! Amazing! _

The ninjas were close enough to see the battleground. It was a small clearing circled by the trees which were now heavily damaged. There was water everywhere which was obviously the doing of Kisame. They saw Itatchi standing farther back from the two opponents who were fighting on top of the water. Kisame, the Akatsuki member who resembled a shark, was swinging his sword Samehada. The third figure was dodging every swing effortlessly although she had a kunai sticking out of her arm, shruiken sticking out of her back and numerous cuts all over. The wounds were not fatal but every time she moved, blood would splatter out onto the water staining the surface red. The girl was wearing a cloak with a hood. Her face was obscured because she was wearing a hood. Kisame looked like he was enjoying himself as they started to speed up their deadly dance.

Kisame lunged forward and swung Samehada in a wide arc. The girl jumped back and dodged to the left. Kisame took this chance to create 3 water clones. All four Kisames were rushing in on the girl but she dodged every one of their swings. All of them sped up but Neji noticed the girl wasnt attacking Kisame. She was dodging only. All four Kisames started to attack even faster. Kakashi activated his Sharingan to catch up with their movements. Itachi was still standing to the side watching the fight. _Why doesnt __s__he attack as wel__l?_Neji wondered. Just then, Kisame stated going on a wild rampage of swinging his sword everywhere. She jumped in the air to get out of the way but one of Kisames water clones jumped up and prepared to slash at her while simultaneously, another water clone jumped up to get her from below. As soon as both Samehadas touched the girl in midair, the girl was gone only to be replaced by a log. The real girl landed back on the water again but a hand shot out of the water beneath her and grabbed her ankles.

Another Kisame grabbed both her arms and a third quickly made hand signs and said Suirō no Jutsu! (Water Prison Technique!) Water encircled the girl and formed into a water sphere trapping the girl inside. The girl stopped struggling. Hey Itachi! I got her! Kisame yelled at Itachi. The Uchiha calmly walked over. "Finally. Why does it take you so long to capture one girl?" "Why don't you try to capture her? It isn't as easy as it seems!" Kisame retorted. "We have to go help her!" Tenten exclaimed as she prepared to jump out. "No!" Kakashi said and grabbed her arm. "We have to wait for Guy and the others to come!"

As Itachi and Kisame were arguing, Itachi noticed the girl. Her chakra was swirling around her and Itachi realized something bad was going to happen. "Kisame, move!" he yelled as he jumped away. "Huh?" Kisame turned around and saw the girl in the water prison grab onto his hand. "What the…," Kisame said as he realized what was going on. "Oh shit…," he muttered and his water prison blew up.

A.N: Review please!


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto!

The story will get better as it goes on! A thank you to all my readers who have put up with the story so far!

**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 3**

Water flew everywhere from the force of the explosion. The girl seemed unharmed apart from the fact that she was drenched. She seemed to give a small sigh as she shed her wet cloak. Kisame however, was not so lucky.

The force of the explosion had made him fly back all the way across the large body of water. His flight was stopped when his back slammed into a tree. His right hand, which had been in the water prison when it exploded, was twisted at an odd angle. Samehada, which was in his left hand, flew out of his grip and would have knocked off Itachis head if he had not moved just in time to avoid the huge sword.

Tenten and Kakashi were both flabbergasted at what had happened. They both turned to Neji for an explanation. "You do remember when I said I saw a huge amount of chakra from her right?" Neji told them. "Moments before the explosion, she compressed all of her chakra into the smallest size she could. I think you might have seen some chakra swirling around her. That was probably the chakra that started to leak out." "And the force of the chakra when she let it all out was the result of the explosion, right?" Kakashi finished. Neji nodded. "But wouldn't she have to release all of the chakra from all over her body at the same time?" Tenten asked. "Yeah, that about sums it up," Neji agreed. "The Hyuga clan releases small amount of chakra from specific points of the body to stop the chakra flow of the enemy. You would need really good chakra control to release chakra from all over your body at the same time."

_Not only that _he thought, _if she didn't release chakra all at the same time with the same pressure, the uneven pressure would have made her fly off into one direction or another. She's good. _

The fine mist that drizzled from the remains of the watery explosion cleared away and everyone could see her face quite clearly. She had long dark brown hair that could easily be mistaken as black. It was tied up in a high ponytail and a few locks at the front fell loose framing her pretty face. She had long lashes and dark brown eyes that twinkled with mischief. Her skin was slightly tanned. She was wearing a tight, black, long sleeved shirt and dark green vest over it. Her skirt was similar to Sakura's except for the fact that it was a sky blue. The tight leggings that went down to her knees were black. She also wore a kunai holster, a hip pouch, gloves with hand guards and a small backpack on her back. Her clothes looked faded as if she had been travelling for quite a while. In short, she looked just like an average kunoichi except for one small thing. She wasn't wearing a forehead protector. There was no implication of what village she originated from.

All three Konoha ninjas were thinking of similar things.

Kakashi: _Why can't I find a symbol of her home village? Perhaps she's a missing-__nin__… but I know the Bingo book__ almost off by heart. I would have recognized her… _

Tenten: _I don't see a forehead protector on her… Her hair has a really nice sheen to it! I wonder what brand of conditioner she uses… No! Mission first! No useless thoughts __right now! __Hmm…__ But she does have a great figure… I __gotta__ ask her what her dieting routine is… _

Neji: _I wonder what village she's from… Wherever she's from, she's quite a beauty! Wait a minute… No useless thought right now __Neji__! Concentrate on the fight! _

Itachi looked over at Kisame. He was knocked out cold. Itachi snorted. He concentrated on the girl again. _Should I capture her now? It might take a little time but I'm sure I'll best her in the end… I am in the country of fire though so __Konoha__ ninjas should be approaching here right about now… _He took another glance at the girl. She was healing herself with medical ninjutsu but he noticed she was still ready to fight in an instant. Itachi smirked.

One moment Itachi was standing beside Kisame and the next, he was right beside the girl. This time, Kakashi made no attempt to stop Neji and Tenten from jumping out because he jumped out with them. Kakashi activated his Sharingan. However, the Konoha ninjas seemed to have revealed themselves needlessly. As Itachi punched the girl's stomach, she turned into a pile of leaves. _A replacement __jutsu_Itachi thought with shock. _There's no way… _The girl appeared beside Itachi and threw a punch at his face. Itachi dodged but just barely. His hand shot out to grab her arm but it wasn't there anymore as she had already moved behind him. He turned around and jumped back as he threw a kunai at her. She was gone the moment the kunai left his hand reappearing right in front of him. _She's too fast! _Itachi thought in panic. He had no more time for thoughts because she had punched him in the stomach. The force of the punch sent him underwater.

The Konoha ninjas were staring in awe at the girl. She was moving impossibly fast. Even Itachi, the Uchiha prodigy couldn't keep up with her speed! The girl suddenly jumped up into the air and threw kunais where Itachi had submerged before. Kunais shot out of the water and they all deflected each other. As they fell to the surface of the water harmlessly, the girl landed a few feet back onto the surface of the water.

Itachi was angry. _Dammit__! I can see all of her movements but I can't keep up with it. Maybe I've underestimated her too much. __And the stupid __Konoha__ ninjas have arrived as well. __Kisame's__ knocked out and that means no backup. If I use any of my __genjutsu__, there's a chance I won't get everyone trapped in it. I also need to get __Kisame__ out with me and there's a good chance there will be backup for those meddling __Konoha__ ninjas. The only choice here is to retreat._ He quickly made some hand signs.

Itachi jumped back out onto the surface of the water. A kunai came flying at his face but he easily dodged it. The stupid Konoha ninjas were running up beside the girl. "I will have to come for you another time," Itachi told the girl. Four clones of Itachi jumped out from the water all armed with kunais. They ran towards the opponents while Itachi ran towards Kisame.

The girl wasn't moving. She suddenly turned around and started running towards the Konoha ninjas. "RUN!!!!!" she screamed. Kakashi, tenten and Neji were all very confused but they did was they were told. Neji looked over his shoulder. The girl had stopped running and was quickly making hand signs. A moment later, she stated to change. It looked as if she was completely liquefied as she started to morph. As soon as she stated, it finished. No longer was there a girl but a huge eagle. She screeched and flew forward with a surprising burst of speed. Her giant hooked claws grabbed the three Konoha ninja's shirt and flew into the air. About two seconds later, the four clones of Itachi blew up creating four large explosions that engulphed the body of water and its surrounding areas.

The explosion caught up with the giant eagle and her three dangling passengers. The eagle screeched and the ninjas covered their eyes as a wave of intense heat flooded their senses. Neji felt himself plummeting from the sky. Darkness swallowed him even before he hit the ground.

AN: How was it? The new character will be properly introduced in the next chapter! I'll try to put a lot details into her so she'll be a believable character! Please review!!!!


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do (fill in the blank) own Naruto. For those of you who cannot figure this out, the fill in the blank word is 'not'.

This is the fourth chapter! Introductions are in this one!

**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 4 **

Neji bolted upright in the hospital bed. A moment later, he wished he hadn't. A sharp pain shot up from his wrist shooting up his arm. He was disoriented for a moment. _There was __an__… explosion? Yes that's what happened. __An eagle… the girl transformed into an eagle but… did I get hit by the explosion? _Neji looked around. The curtains were drawn close around his bed. His left wrist was in a cast. His leg was bandaged but nothing felt broken there. There were numerous band-aids all over.

His head snapped back up as the curtains drew open. Tsunade walked over beside Neji. "Are you feeling better?" she asked. "Yes, Tsunade-sama," he replied. "What happened after I was knocked out?" Neji asked. He looked over to his left and saw the girl, still unconscious, in the other bed. Tsunade quickly reassured Neji when she saw his concerned face. "Don't worry. I know her. She's the daughter of a friend of mine." Seeing the surprised face on Neji's face she chuckled. "The village elders were very hard to convince. They thought that she could be part of an Akatsuki conspiracy and declared that she should be guarded by some ANBU members until she's interrogated. Luckily I won the debate. The elders looked like they were having a frog shoved down their throats," she finished saying with another small chuckle as her assistant, Shizune walked in with Tonton, her pet pig.

"It's not a good thing to make fun of the village elders Tsunade-sama," Shizune scolded her. "They need to realize that I make the final decision here," Tsunade snapped back. "What do you want?" Shizune gave a small sigh. "Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Tenten, Kakashi and Gai wants to know if they can see Neji now," Shizune said.

"Tell them they can come in as long as they're quiet," Tsunade said glancing at the still unconscious girl. Shizune stepped out of the door and called out to someone in the hallway. "It's okay to come in now!" The door burst open and Naruto burst in yelling out at the top of his lungs. "Hey Neji! I heard you got hurt! Did ya mess up on the mission? I bet I could've…" Whatever Naruto was going to say was lost as Sakura hit him on the back of his head. "Quiet down you idiot! Injured people are in here!" Sakura yelled at him. "Owww… that hurt Sakura-chan, you didn't have to hit me," Naruto complained. "Then be QUIET!" Sakura yelled. "You're louder than me…" Naruto muttered. Kakashi leaned against the wall and buried his face in one of Jiraya's famous perverted novels.

As the two friends bickered in the corner, Tenten, Lee and Gai came over beside Neji. "Are you alright?" Tenten asked with concern. "I'm fine. Just tell me what happened," Neji said. "It took longer than I thought it would to find Sakura-chan," Lee started. "When we finally got back to Gai-sensei, we saw a huge explosion. Sakura-chan, Gai-sensei and I travelled towards the explosion site when Kakashi and Tenten fell out of the air and landed on top of Gai-sensei. I found you and the girl a little up ahead. Branches from trees seemed to have slowed your fall so no serious damage was done to you."

Gai continued the story. "I went ahead by myself to check out the explosion site. There was an enormous crater and no signs of Akatsuki anywhere. Tenten and Kakashi had a few minor cuts that Sakura easily healed. The other girl had more serious wounds than you so she used most of her chakra to heal her." They looked over at the bed beside Neji's. The girl's breathing was steady but she was heavily bandaged.

Tsunade focused her attention on Neji. "That left wrist is broken. You'll have to keep the cast on for three to four weeks," she ordered. "Don't get the cast wet." "Hey Tsunade-baa-chan, who's she?" asked Naruto with impatience. "Don't interrupt me!" Tsunade yelled at Naruto. "Naruto went to sulk in a corner while muttering to himself. "We have been wondering that ourselves Tsunade-sama," Neji said politely. "You guys sure are persistent," the Godaime sighed.

"As I said before, she's the daughter of a good friend of mine. Her name, if I remember correctly is, Jiiku Anaki. I spent a couple of months with her family. They taught me some useful medical jutsus." "Which village does the Jiiko clan belong in? I've never heard of their name before," Sakura asked. Tsunade had a worried look on her face. "I really shouldn't be telling anyone this…" "It's alright. Go ahead. It doesn't really matter now whether they know or not." A new voice joined in the conversation. Anaki, now awake, was struggling to sit up in her bed. Tsunade rushed over to her bedside. "Lie back down! It's no good if you re-open your wounds again." Anaki shook her head. "I'm fine, really." She sat up while Tsunade glared at her disapprovingly.

"As I said, I think you should tell them everything," Anaki said averting Tsunade's piercing gaze. Tsunade shook her head firmly. "Explain to me first why you were being chased by the Akatsuki. And where's Kyoko, Kigure and Yumiki-chan? Why would you be travelling alone?" Anaki gave a small smile but still refused to meet her eyes. "I'm surprised you remembered all the names." Tsunade's frown deepened and she yelled at the girl. "You're not answering my questions! What happened Anaki?" "I think you should explain everything about the Jiiko clan to them," she said quietly. Tsunade glanced over to Naruto and his friends. They had a very confused look on their faces as they had no idea what the Hokage was talking about.

Tsunade didn't seem to like the idea but she drew back. "Fine," she said crossly. "But you're going to explain everything to me afterwards."

Tsunade turned around to face the ninjas. "I'm going to have to start this story when Konoha was still a newly founded village. When a shinobi village wants to become strong, strong clans especially those with kekkei genkais were persuaded to join one village or another." Naruto, sensing a long tale, quickly jumped onto the end of Neji's bed and made himself comfortable. Kakashi put his book away to pay more attention to the story.

"The Jiiku clan was a large prosperous clan. However, the thing that made every village want them wasn't their wealth or size but their kekkei genkais. Not only that but all of the ninjas of Jiiku clans were skilled in combat and in medical jutus. All the villages tried to persuade them to join their village. Sometimes, villages would fight for the possession of their kekkei genkais." "What's with their kekkei genkai? Is it something that special?" Naruto interrupted. "Shut up!" Sakura yelled and hit him again on the back of his head. Tsunade chose to ignore the commotion.

"The clan chose to join Konoha at the end. But the other villages weren't happy at all. They would attack the clan and harass them constantly. Since the Jiiku clan were a part of Konoha, the Hokage wouldn't let one of his clans suffer like that. Little skirmishes would break constantly and there were lots of casualties on both sides. Even though an all out war hadn't been declared, it was escalating to one. The Jiiku clan couldn't stand all the fighting anymore and requested permission to leave Konoha and disappear. The Hokage refused at first but saw the sense in that decision and granted their request. The Hokage then ordered all traces of the Jiiku clan to be removed. Basically, the whole clan disappeared off the face of the earth overnight." Tsunade stopped. All of the ninjas in the room were hanging onto every word she had said. Naruto, the very hyperactive ninja was sitting completely still as he tried to comprehend this new piece of information.

"The other villages were confused at first. Some were suspicious that it was all a trap and that the Jiiku clan wasn't actually gone. Everyone in Konoha however, seemed to catch on pretty quickly. Nobody talked about the clan anymore and all evidence that they had existed were destroyed. It was like an unspoken rule. Anyone who knew of the Jiiku clan never spoke of them again. The other villages seemed to understand what was going on and in due time, it was like they never existed. The whole clan was forgotten."

Naruto was the first to recover his voice. "Tsunade-baa-chan, how did you find the Jiiku clan if they disappeared such a long time ago?" "I didn't find them," Tsunade said her voice quite distant. "They found me. About 8 years ago…"

-----_Flashback: 8 years ago-----_

_The sky was dark. The clouds were black and the air was moist and humid. __The obvious signs that it was going to rain._

_"__Tsunade-sama__, there's a heavy storm approaching. Shouldn't we find shelter?" __Shizune, __Tsunade's__ faithful assistant was very concerned. _

_As they jumped from branch to branch, __Tsunade__ ignored __Shizune's__ question. __Shizune__ decided to try again. _

_"__Tsunade-sama__…" "I heard you the first time!" snapped __Tsunade__. The assistant shut her mouth and sulked quietly. _

_Th__e rain started to fall lightly. For the first two minutes. Then, it started to rain cats and dogs. More accurately, it rained rhinos and elephants. The two female ninjas were soaked to the bone in less than a minute. However, the blond haired woman did not stop. In fact, she was going even faster. _

_Shizune__ was frustrated. They were running for their lives, yes, but she was sure their pursuers wouldn't chase after them through this heavy rainfall. They had p__robably given up and gone home like all other sensible people. _

_The rain was falling even harder. Each raindrop now felt like ice-cold daggers piercing into the flesh. To make things worse, thunder boomed in the distance; a sure sign that they were going to be electrocuted if they stayed out in this storm any longer. _

_It was only noon but the black clouds obscured the entire sky making it as dark as the middle of the night. __Tsunade__ suddenly halted. __Shizune,__ caught off guard, almost jumped right into __Tsunade._

_"__Tsunade-sama__ we shouldn't stop …" "__Shh__… can you hear that?"__Tsunade__ quickly pulled out a kunai. __Shizune__ did the same although she was a little confused.__ The wind was strong and the rain fell everywhere obscuring any noises. _

_"There!" __Tsunade__ cried and threw her kunai into the __leafy branches of a nearby tree.__ Moments later, they heard a scream and a shadowed figure jumped out from the branches. __Shizune__ took this chance to throw her kunai at the pursuer. _

_The kunai was deflected by another kunai thrown from another tree. __Tsunade__ jumped to another branch evading the three __kunais__ that were now embedded on the branch she was standing moments before. _

_About 20 to 30 ninjas from the village of the rain revealed themselves. It was impossible to discern their faces due to the heavy rainfall and the lack of light. They formed themselves into a loosely knit circle around the two females. _

_"Damn. They caught up with us faster than I thought," __Tsunade__ muttered to herself. "__Tsunade-sama__, what should we do?" asked __Shizune__. They were back to back with __kunais__ in their hands. _

_The world was lit up for a moment as lightning struck only a few centimetres away from the __Sennin__. The electricity jumped through the water. __Tsunade__ felt her body hum and vibrate as the electricity coursed through her. There was a strange sensation of falling and__ then, everything __became pitch black. _

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AN: Sorry the chapter was so boring! My character needed some good background work so some history lesson had to take place. And to all those who hate flashbacks: I'm so sorry! The next chapter will be a continuation of Tsunade's flashback. Reviews are welcome!


	6. Chapter 5

**Please R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned Naruto. But sadly I don't

This chapter will have the second part of Tsunade's flashback.

_"__talking__" and 'thinking'_

**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 5**

-----_Flashback: 8 years ago (part 2)_

_Tsunade__ woke up with pains all over her body. That was good. That meant she was alive.__ She felt warm and refreshed. _

_She slowly sat up wincing as her back protested a__t such vigorous movement. The __Sa__nnin__ looked around her surroundings. _

_She was in a bed. The room was very like a hospital room back in __Konoha__ except it was very large. There were about 5 other clean, neat beds ready for use. There was a small table beside her__ bed. A simple vase was placed on top of the table and bouquets of lilies were in the vase. _

_Her bed was the one closest to the window and farthest away from the door. __Tsunade__ inspected herself. Her left arm was in a cast. It felt like she broke both of the bones in her lower arm. There were numerous bandages all over her and her right leg felt funny. It felt like the bones were vibrating inside her leg. _

_The door opened and __Shizune__ walked in with a platter of food. "How do you feel __Tsunade-sama__?" she asked kindly setting the food in front of __Tsunade__. "I feel like I've been electrocuted," __Tsunade__ said dryly and attacked the food in front of her. _

_Shizune__ rolled her eyes. "I told you we should've found a place to hide instead of running in the middle of a thunderstorm. __Tsunade-sama__, with all__ due respect…"__Tsunade__ rolled her eyes and ignored her while munching. __Shizune__ was useful but she could be a pain in the butt at times. _

_"…__and you've probably ignored everything I've said so far right?" __Shizune__ ended with a sigh. "You know me too well," __Tsunade__ replied with a cheeky grin. _

_"So, where are we?" __Tsunade__ asked her assistant. "We're in the residence of the __Jiiku__ clan. This compound is located at the border of the country of Earth and the hidden village of Waterfall." _

_"Who's the __Jiiku__ clan?" __Tsunade__ asked with interest. "I've never heard of them before.__ Do they belong in the hidden village of Waterfall?__" _

_A woman stepped through the infirmary door. "The __Jiiku__ clan does not belong to any village." The woman was in her late thirties. She had chestnut brown hair that__ went down to her shoulders__. Her eyes were a __shade of green-turquoise. She was a little shorter than __Tsunade__ but she had an aura of pride of stubbornness around her. _

_"Welcome to the __Jiiku__ clan's home __Tsunade-sama__. My name is __Jiiku__ Kyoko," she said politely. For the next few minutes, Kyoko explained the history of the __Jiiku__ clan. _

_"The __Jiiku__ clan would constantly switch locations and hardly ever talk to outsiders. Our clan was once very big but over time, the numbers continued to dwindle. All that's left of the __Jiiku__ clan now is my husband, my two daughters and I," she finished. __Tsunade__ cleared her throat. "Thank you for saving me from the __rain ninjas. I am in your debt." "Oh, don't thank me. My daughter's the one who helped you." Kyoko looked over her shoulder. "It's not polite to eavesdrop on adults __Anaki__," she called. "Come in." _

_The door opened up and a little girl with wide dark brown eyes stepped in. __She had long dark brown hair which was loose and flowing down past her shoulders. __"What do you have to say?" Kyoko asked the girl sternly. "I'm sorry mom," she said without sounding sorry in the least. Kyoko sighed and turned back to the guests. "This is my eldest daughter, __Anaki__. She happened to passing by when she heard __kunais__ clanging. She found you electrocuted and __Shizune__ as well but not as badly as you. She took care of the rain ninjas and brought you two here." _

_Tsunade__looked over at the girl with disbelief. She couldn't have been more than ten years old. The girl jumped on __Tsunade's__ bed jarring her still vibrating leg. __Tsunade__ winced. "Hi! I'm __Jiiku__Anaki__. I'm eight years old and I don't like fish especially anchovies. I don't like spiders, flies or mosquitoes," she said matter-of-factly. "Which village did you come from? How old are you? Why were you being chased by a whole bunch of rain ninjas? Most of __them were easy to take down but this one guy did __this weird __jutsu__ that almost got me killed! I remembered this really strong __jutsu__ just in time though. Are you strong? You look like a medic-__nin__ Are you?" _

_Shizune__ and Kyoko had slipped out of the room leaving her to babysit the kid. __Tsunade__ sighed. This girl was nothing but questions. _

_Tsunade__ and __Shizune__ stayed with the __Jiiku__ family for two months. They met the clan leader and father, __Kigure__. He had dark brown windswept hair and chocolate brown eyes. He appeared to be very serious on first sight but he had a wicked sense of __humor__. The one year old baby __Yumiki__ was always crying, eating or sleeping. _

_Ana__ki__ was always curious. She would be constantly beside __Tsunade__ asking questions. __Tsunade__ and Kyoko became fast friends. Kyoko was an __accomplished medic-__nin__ so they had a lot of things to talk about. They were often trading tips on medical __ninjutus__ and such. _

_Tsunade__ grew close to __Anaki__. They often spent time training at the many__ hidden training grounds. __Tsunade__ acknowledged that she was a prodigy and strong enough to be a __chunnin__ if she was a __shinobi__ of __Konoha__Anaki__ was delighted when __Tsunade__ told her that. __Anaki__ was very interested in what __Konoha__ looked like so __Tsunade__ would often share many details of her home village. _

_The two months passed and __Tsunade__ and __Shizune__were completely healed so they __decided that they needed to get back on the road. They promised to not tell anyone of the clan's existence or their location.__Tsunade__ was __very sad to leave __Anaki__ behind but she knew __Anaki__ was forbidden to travel with them.__ When __Anaki__ asked Kyoko if she could visit the Hidden village of Leaf someday, her mother gave her a sad smile._

_Tsunade__ and __Shizune__ were true to their words. They never talked about the __Jiiku__ clan even with each other. They had never heard of the clan's whereabouts until __Anaki__ had shown up alone at the borders of the Country of Fire with __Akatsuki__ members at her tail…_

_-----End of Flashback-----_

The entire room was silent as Tsunade recalled her tale. When she finished, everyone seemed to be more knowledgeable with the exception of Naruto.

Tsunade turned back to 16 year old Anaki. Tsunade lost her faraway look in her eyes as she focused back on the girl. The silence descended upon the crowd in the room as Tsunade expectantly looked at Anaki.

Anaki let out a sigh. "They're all dead," she said in a hollow voice. Everyone stiffened up with shock. "What?" Tsunade choked out.

"I told you. My mom, dad and Yumiki. All dead." Everyone turned to look at Tsunade. Her face was contorted with disbelief and anger. "Everyone, out!" Tsunade commanded. All the ninjas flinched at her harsh tone and filed out of the room with the exception of Neji who couldn't get out of the bed.

Tsunade closed the door and drew the curtains around Neji's bed. They started speaking in low voices. As much as Neji was curious to know what happened, he decided to respect Tsunade's want of privacy and decided not to eavesdrop.

Out in the hallway,everyone was in deep thought except for Naruto who was pressing his ear against the door. Sakura saw that he was trying to eavesdrop and quickly got into action. She smacked him at the back of the head and started dragging the protesting Naruto away.

After quite some time, Tusande stepped out of the room. Her eyes were slightly red as it seemed she had shed some tears. She looked up and met the gaze of Lee, Tenten, Sakura, Gai, Kakashi and a slightly beaten up Naruto.

"You guys are still here?" she asked them not unkindly. Sakura stepped up. "We wanted to know … what happened… to Anaki-san's family…," she said hesitantly. "They're dead! What more do you need to know?" Tsunade yelled at them. They all visibly flinched. Tsunade's face relaxed slightly and she sighed. "The Akatsuki killed them," she said in a defeated voice and walked away.

Sakura looked at Naruto. His face was one of anger. _Those bastards, I'll find them and make them pay! _Naruto thought as he stormed away with a worried Sakura following close behind. The rest of the group dispersed as well.

Two nurses came into Neji's room after Tsunade had left. "We came to move you to your new room," one of them said. They helped him onto a portable bed with little difficulties. Neji caught a glimpse of Anaki's face. She hadn't said a word after Tsunade had left. Her face was now blank as stone.

Just before Neji had completely been wheeled out of the room, he thought he heard a sob escape from her lips.

AN: I forgot to mention but the most possible pairing in this story is Neji/Anaki.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I. DO. NOT. OWN. NARUTO.

**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 6**

Tsunade was sitting in her office.

Shizune was standing beside her.

"Tsunade-sama…" Shizune tried to get her attention but Tsunade was staring off into space.

She had been like that for quite a while after she had finished telling the assistant the fate of the Jiiku clan.

"Tsunade-sama… I understand your grief but you can't stay like this forever."

Tsunade went right on ignoring her.

Shizune sighed. She stepped out of the office and walked right into Hiashi. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Shizune apologized.

"It's all right. Is Tsunade-sama in?" "Yes she is but I don't know if she'll be seeing anybody right now," Shizune said.

"It's about Anaki-san," Hiashi said. Shizune's head jerked back in surprise.

"How did you…" "May I see Tsunade-sama?" Hiashi said again.

Shizune nodded and let him in.

Tsunade was staring out of the window when Hiashi stepped in.

"What a surprise," Tsunade turned around and greeted him.

"I came here because of Anaki-san," Hiashi said.

Tsunade's eyes widened and she asked him. "How do you know of the Jiiku clan?"

"They saved my life while I was on a mission couple of years ago. They told me to keep their existence a secret. I heard a stranger was admitted into the hospital so I dropped by. When I saw Anaki's face, I recognized her at once,"

"I suppose I'll have to tell you everything," Tsunade said.

After finishing, Hiashi requested something that surprised Tsunade.

"If Anaki-san has nowhere go, she could stay at one of the many empty rooms in the Hyuga's compound. I do owe the Jiiku clan for saving my life."

Tsunade's face broke into a wide grin. "Will it be alright with the Hyuga elders?"

"I'm sure they will understand," Hiashi said easily.

Tsunade walked out of her office a few moments after Hiashi had walked out looking considerably better.

"I'm going for a drink," Tsunade called out to her assistant who was outside the door.

Shizune smiled then realization of what Tsunade had said struck her. She peered into Tsunade's office.

Mountains of paperwork were still piled on top of each other untouched.

Shizune grimaced and ran after Tsunade.

* * *

Anaki was staring out the window.

She was very grateful to Tsunade but currently, all she could think about was her mother and father with blood streaming down their faces.

The blood pooled at their feet forming a puddle that seem to swell into a flood of scarlet red consuming everything no matter how far she ran… And most of all… Yumiki… her sister… her pleading eyes begging her not to go…

Anaki shook her head and broke out of her nightmare.

She heard voices coming towards her room. She rearranged her face to an expression of perfect calmness. The door burst open.

"HEY ANAKI-SAN!" yelled the one in black and orange.

"Naruto, don't be so loud!" reprimanded Sakura as she placed a basket of goodies on the table beside Anaki's bed.

"Are you feeling better?" Sakura asked Anaki with a warm smile.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be the next Hokage!"Naruto proudly self proclaimed.

The door opened and more people burst in.

"Why am I here? This is troublesome," complained Nara Shikamaru.

Ino, who was dragging him in, yelled at him. "Shikamaru, don't be so lazy!"

Shikamaru yawned and Choji Akimichi walked in with Tenten. Coji was eating a bag of chips as usual.

Ino bounded up to Anaki's bedside. "Hi! My name's Ino Yamanaka! Tenten told me all about you!"

Introductions were made all around. Anaki could tell at once Shikamaru was lazy.

"Hey hey, I got a question Anaki-san!" Naruto said.

"You guys can call me Anaki," she said with a warm smile.

"I heard you fought the shark man and Itachi and you were actually able to go one on one with them. I also heard you were winning!"

That caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"There was also that unusually strong wave of chakra from you," Tenten remarked with interest.

"Well…," Anaki seemed a little unsettled by the many pair of eyes focused on her.

"The Jiiku clan has a kekkei genkai," she began slowly. "Anyone who has the Jiiku clan's kekkei genkai are born with an unusually large amount of chakra that grows even bigger as the person grows."

"So some people in the Jiiku clan aren't born with the kekkei genkai," Shikamaru cleverly deduced.

"Thats right. Sometimes it will skip generations. Anyways, most of the chakra is sealed off until the person is old enough to handle the large amount of power. I heard that some of my clan members had enough chakra to rival the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

The whole room seemed surprised by this especially Naruto.

"The kekkei genkai, called Tomeitari, uses the large amount of chakra to compress it to the atomic level to change the state of matter," Anaki stated.

Everyone except for Shikamaru seemed confused.

"Huh?" was Naruto's intelligent response.

"It means she can change solid stuff she wants invisible or transparent and vice versa," Shikamaru explained quite impressed.

"That's awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. "No wonder the Akatsuki members couldn't win!"

"Naruto!" Sakura said disapprovingly.

"Don't worry about it," Anaki reassured. "Itachi nor Kisame were part of my clan's massacre. It's not a touchy subject."

"But to have that kind of kekkei genkai… you could be invincible!" Tenten said in awe.

"I think that's why they were trying to capture me," Anaki explained. "Besides, it's not the world's greatest thing to have Tomeitari."

"Probably the large amount of chakra part," Shikamaru guessed. "If you don't keep it constantly under check, the sheer amount could tear apart your body. And even when you're practising with the Tomeitari, there's a chance you could die right?"

"Wow, for someone that lazy you're quite smart!" Anaki commented.

"He's the smartest person you'll ever see," Ino said matter of factly. "He's got an I.Q. above 200!"

"Maybe we can play shougi sometime," Anaki said with a friendly smile and Shikamaru yawned muttering _what a drag…_

"What's so dangerous when practising with it?" asked Naruto impatiently.

"Part of the trick is to compress a lot of chakra to an atomic level," Anaki explained.

"You can't see an atom no matter what. It's way too small. Even with magnifying lenses, it's impossible. One little section of a strand of hair's made up of millions of atoms. Now try to imagine compressing a lot of chakra into the size of an atom."

Naruto's eyes were wide with attention as Chouji pulled out another bag of chips.

"Imagine if that compressed chakra was suddenly expelled," Anaki finished. "It would probably be enough to blow up all of Fire country easily."

Sakura and Ino's mouth were hanging open in sheer shock.

Naruto got over the shock faster than the others.

"It sounds dangerous but also really powerful," Naruto commented.

"If it's controlling chakra, why can't other ninjas do it as well?" Sakura asked.

"Normally, controlling chakra at that level is impossible," said Anaki. "However, the kekkei genaki Tomeitari destroys that impossible part."

"It sounds cool and all but what can you do with it?" Ino asked not completely understanding.

"Well… I could condense the air so I could walk on air, I could make weapons thrown at me pass right through, make myself invisible so assassination jobs would be of no problem, if I had to hide an object, I could make it invisible as long as I am touching it, and I could make my hand transparent and pull out someones heart without damaging the skin at all among other things."

They all looked amazed and repulsed at the same time.

"Of course, I still can't use any of these very effectively. What I've just listed are things only things that can be done by someone who has completely mastered the Tomeitari," Anaki explained looking a little wistful.

The conversation led to a stop when Tsunade walked in.

"Anaki needs her rest!" Tsunade ordered. "Don't bother her for too long okay?"

Tsunade walked over to Anaki.

"I'm supposing you have nowhere to go," Tsunade began. "So someone has offered you accommodation."

Everyone looked up.

"Hiashi has offered you a place to stay at the Hyuga household."

There was a moment of complete silence.

The loud, surprised exclaims and outbursts began a second later.

"Everyone SHUT UP!" Tsunade yelled.

"Tell Hiashi-sama I am grateful for his offer and that I accept it with thanks," Anaki's voice cut through the lull.

Tsunade walked out quite content and took a sip of sake that she had bought.

Inside Anaki's room everyone was screeching about the notorious Hyuga household.

"Most of them are stuck-up and thinks they're so great!" Naruto yelled. "Neji used to go on about how fate was predestined and that you couldn't change yourself!"

"That was before you beat him up and proved him wrong," Shikamaru corrected.

Neji was reading a book in his hospital room when he suddenly sneezed.

_Someone's talking about me,_ thought Neji.

Back in Anaki's room, everyone had calmed down considerably and started to leave.

"Anaki-chan, I'll show you around Konoha when you're better," Naruto said with a grin.

"I'd appreciate that a lot!" Anaki said returning a smile.

_It seems I've made some new friends, _thought Anaki happily when everyone had left.

Her thought however, were soon plagued by dark thoughts and blood once again.

* * *

AN: Sorry this chapter took so long to write! I have a lot of schoolwork and stuff so I was and am busy. Please R&R! 


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do own Naruto… I wish I did anyways… but I don't.

**

* * *

****The Caged Bird **

**Chapter 7**

As soon as Anaki was released from the hospital, she was swarmed by Naruto and his friends.

Hinata heard that Anaki was going to be staying at her house and actually attempted to know her better.

Of course, Hinata didn't get to hang around her for too long due to the fact that Naruto was around and fainted after getting too close.

Shikamaru was dragged along into the welcoming party by Ino.

After a quick introduction, Shino had disappeared silently. No one really noticed him anyways.

Ino, Sakura and Tenten dragged her around all over Konoha to clothing shops to get her a new outfit. They also spent some time relaxing at a hot spring.

Naruto, Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru all disappeared while the girls went shopping but reappeared quite suddenly when Anaki announced she would buy lunch for all of them.

They all ended up going to Ichiraku Ramen Bar and Naruto ended up having 25 bowls of ramen.

Anaki apparently had no money problems due to the fact that the large amount of fortune of the Jiiku family was all entitled to her.

After lunch, Anaki requested that she wanted to go to a training ground. Sakura and Ino both had work to do so they said their goodbyes.

Kiba was also busy and Choujis father requested for him so he had to go. Tenten also left.

"Let's go!" Naruto yelled and dragged Anaki to one of the many battlegrounds.

When they got there, they found out it was occupied.

"Hey Neji! You're out of the hospital as well?" Naruto cheerfully called out.

Neji walked over to greet them. "I was released in the afternoon," he explained.

"So, what brings you to the training grounds?" Neji politely asked Anaki.

"I haven't trained in quite a while so I thought loosening up might be good," she said lightly.

"I've been meaning to ask you some question Anaki-san," Neji asked.

"That's fine with me. Let's go sit over there," she said.

The three ninjas sat down in the shade of a very large tree.

"What do you want to know?" she asked.

"When I saw your chakra overflow that time," Neji began "It seemed like you were manipulating the chakra by pure will. How is that possible?"

After some thought Anaki slowly began.

"To use the kekkei genkai Tomeitari, you would need absolute perfection on chakra manipulation. Hand signs are used to manipulate chakra for all ninjas but for the Jiiku members with Tomeitari, they need to learn how to manipulate chakra by will."

"Does that mean you can do other jutus without hand signs?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Anaki nodded. "Could I be able to do it too?" Naruto asked in a hopeful voice.

"Probably not," she replied and Naruto looked a bit crestfallen.

Neji stood up. "Would you like to spar with me?" he asked to Anaki.

Naruto and Anaki both looked surprised for a moment.

"Sure," Anaki replied and got up as well.

Neji took up his stance in the middle of the field. Anaki looked at him for a moment.

"Are you sure about this?" Anaki asked.

"Please don't hold back," Neji replied and jumped forward with his Byakugan activated.

Neji started off with a flurry of palm strikes. Anaki slapped back every one of them like an experienced Jyuuken user.

Neji narrowed his eyes. She also had chakra emitted into her palm as well like Neji even though she didn't have the Byakugan.

Anaki jumped forward and attempted to kick Neji in the abdomen. He jumped to the side and thrust his palm forward. He made a direct hit to one of the pressure points and Anaki went flying back.

Anaki stood up dusting herself off and Neji's eyes widened in shock. Her chakra flow was perfectly fine and undamaged.

_How is this possible? I hit her accurately. _

Anaki gave Neji a little smile and blurred out of sight. Neji barely had enough time to block Anaki's kunai that was thrown at him from behind. More kunais with explosive tags thudded into the ground before him. He jumped back as it exploded.

Anaki jumped up from below suddenly and punched him hard under the jaw.

Neji flew into the air but recovered quickly and landed on his feet.

All this happened in less than three seconds.

_Time to get serious, _he thought. He started running as he threw three kunais at Anaki. She dodged them while running forward.

Anaki threw a punch directed at Neji's stomach. He dodged and tried to land a hit but she blurred out of sight again to appear behind him.

Neji had been expecting that and he dodged her kick while throwing a kunai at her point blank.

The metal thudded into her head and Anaki changed into a log. _A substitution __jutsu, _he thought and quickly whirled around.

There were shruiken stars all headed for him from all angles. "Hakke Shou Kaiten!" Neji cried. He spun around and all of the shruiken stars bounched off harmlessly. As soon as he stopped, Anaki was there right in front of him. "Wha-" he started to say. She didn't give him a chance to finish.

She punched him hard in the stomach and he went flying back. He slammed into a tree and everything went black.

* * *

"Neji, wake up!" Naruto yelled in his face. Neji felt horrible. His whole body was aching and he felt like everything he had ever eaten was going to come back up. 

"Are you all right?" Naruto practically yelled at him. _I'd feel better if you didn't scream in my face, _Neji thought.

"I'm so sorry!" said Anaki in a panicky voice. "I didn't think that the punch w-was that s-strong…" She looked to be on the verge of tears. Neji forced himself to sit up and wished he didn't. The world spun around until Anaki rushed forward and set him back down on the grass.

"Don't move, okay?" she said and formed some sand signs. She brought her hands over his abdomen and started to heal him.

"You know healing jutus?" asked a very surprised Naruto.

"The Jiiku clan has natural talent in chakra control," she explained while healing Neji. "So most of us were very accomplished medic-nins."

Anaki finished and Neji sat up. This time, he was able to stay sitting up.

"I'm so sorry," Anaki apologized again. "It's fine," Neji said with a quick smile. The sun was already setting into the horizon.

"So this is where you were Neji," Hiashi said with a stern voice.

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin. They looked up and saw the head of the Hyuga clan staring sternly down at them.

"Hiashi-sama," Neji said in surprise as he quickly stood up and gave a respectful bow.

"I gotta go now!" Naruto said in a slightly higher pitch of voice. "Bye Neji! Bye Anaki!"

He ran off like there was no tomorrow.

_Hmm, that was the __Kyuubi's__ vessel if I'm right. I wonder what got him going in such a hurry, _thought Hiashi.

Anaki tried to stifle her giggle as Neji ducked his head as not to let Hiashi see him smile.

"Neji, I hoped that you would be coming home earlier with Anaki today," Hiashi said a little disapprovingly.

Neji's head jerked back in surprise as he stared into Hiashi's face in genuine confusion.

"No one has told you?" Hiashi asked. Neji shook his head.

"Anaki-san will be staying at the Hyuga compound for a while by my invitation," Hiashi explained. "Her parents had done a great service to me in the past and I feel I need to pay her back."

"Let's go," Hiashi ordered and started to walk home with Neji and Anaki walking behind him in his wake.

They walked all the way home in silence.

By the time they arrived at the main gates of the Hyuga compound, it was already dark.

"Welcome to the Hyuga's manor," Hiashi said warmly to Anaki as he led her in.

They walked through a front yard filled with greenery and a pond with koi swimming lazily.

As soon as they got to the building, several maids of the branch members rushed out to greet the head of the house.

Hiashi turned around to Neji. "Please show her to the empty room in the Brach section."

"Yes Hiashi-sama. Goodnight," replied Neji as he gave a bow to Hiashi.

"Follow me," Neji said and started to walk in the opposite direction of Hiashi.

They walked down to the left of the hallway and turned right at the end. "You know," Neji began. "Not many people are invited into the Hyuga compound. It's probably unheard of to have an outsider actually stay in the house."

"Are the Hyugas scared someone will figure out the secret of the Byakugan?" she asked half jokingly.

"Precisely," Neji answered. He spent the next few minutes explaining the Hyuga clan while leading her to her room.

They turned right down a long hallway to another long hallway. Three doors down to the left, Neji stopped and opened the sliding door.

It was a simple room with a closet and a table and a window at the other side of the room. All of her stuff were already in the room, brought by one of the many Hyuga's branch member.

"The washroom is right beside your room," Neji said. "Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes."

Neji was about to walk down the hallway to his room when Anaki said, "Thank you Neji-kun," in a small voice.

Anaki closed the door behind her. There were no accommodations anywhere else in Konoha so she should be grateful to Hiashi-sama but somehow… she felt left out and isolated in this cold household.

She gave a sigh and started to unpack her belongings. She also put away the new outfits she bought at the store. She changed into a kimono for dinner and stepped out of her room.

Neji was standing outside of her room, dressed in a kimono as well. Anaki's dark brown hair was about as long as his and it cascaded loose framing her perfect body. Neji felt the back of his neck turn warm as he marvelled at her through the corners of his eyes.

They both strode silently down the hallway towards the dining hall of the branch members. Neji opened the sliding door.

The dining hall wasn't big or impressive but it had a sense of warmth in the atmosphere. There was a long table along the middle and cushions for seats.

"Everyone's already dined," Neji explained. "We can eat in the kitchen."

They walked into the empty dining hall and opened a sliding door to the left. Anaki was hit by all the delicious scents wafting from the kitchen.

The kitchen was wide and spacious with a lot of cooks and helps bustling around. Neji guided Anaki to a table beside a wall. Hinata was sitting in one of the chairs.

"Hi Hinata!" Anaki cheerfully called out and grabbed a seat beside her. "Good evening Hinata-sama," Neji politely greeted her.

"Did you come home late too?" asked Anaki. "N-no," Hinata stammered. "I said I f-felt ill s-so I w-would l-like to dine on my o-own."

Anaki gave Hinata a piercing gaze once over. "You don't like to dine with the main branch?" Anaki asked. "I-I… it's j-just…," Hinata tried to stammer out an excuse but failed miserably.

Just then, a cook appeared with three trays. She set them down in front of the three ninjas and bustled away. While they were eating, Anaki would keep on glancing up at Neji's forehead where the Caged Bird seal had been placed.

After a while, Neji began to feel a little uncomfortable at her gaze. "Is there something you want Anaki-chan?" he asked politely.

"That seal on your forehead… If you don't mind, could I have a closer look at it after dinner?" she asked innocently.

Neji frowned slightly for a moment as he considered it. "Fine," he consented after a moment's thought.

The rest of the dinner ended in silence. Hinata bade them a good night and slipped away.

"Do you know a place where we won't be watched or overheard?" Anaki asked as they made their way back to the branch member's resting quarters.

Neji pondered for a moment and finally concluded that the safest place would be her room.

They both slipped into Anaki's room, hoping no one would see as that might give the wrong idea to them.

"Sit down," Anaki ordered. She pulled out some scrolls from her bag. She formed some hand seals and the kanji written in the scroll began to glow a purple hue.

"Could you hold still?" she requested. "I just want to examine the seal for a moment. It won't hurt a bit."

She formed even more hand seals at an incredible speed. The kanji disappeared from the scroll and appeared, still glowing on the palms of her hands.

She gently placed her hands on top of Neji's seal. Immediately, he began to feel pleasantly warm and cool at the same time. He relaxed even more until he was in a hypnotic state. The warmth pulled him into the dream- like state even more. His whole body felt light and his eyes closed into a deep, sweet slumber.

* * *

AN: Please forgive me! Yes, this chapter was boring but I will do my best to please you next chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated! 


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I hope everyone's realized that by now.

Warning: There will be swearing from now on!

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* * *

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**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 8**

_Somewhere in __the Land of Rice Fields…_

Orochimaru gritted his teeth in pain. He had been bedridden for the last two days and the pain was becoming even worse. "Kabuto!" he screeched.

Kabuto calmly walked into the room with a tray. There were varieties of medicines on the tray. "This body is detiorating faster than I thought," Orochimaru hissed. "I need to transfer to Sasuke-kun's body as soon as possible."

"Right now Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto began holding out several pills. "You need to get better. Sasuke-kun seems very restless lately and you need to be in good health when transferring bodies."

Orochimaru chuckled darkly. "Find some strong opponents to keep him happy for now," he ordered. "He needs to be strong when I take over his body. His strength will soon be mine…" He chuckled again evilly.

"I have some interesting rumours Orochimaru-sama. Something you might be interested in," informed Kabuto. "It's something about an unidentified kekkei genkai. Would you like me to look into it?"

"An unknown kekkei genaki… How intriguing…," "I'll send out my spies immediately," Kabuto said with a little smirk.

Outside in the hallway, Sasuke had heard the whole conversation with mild interest.

_

* * *

_

_Konoha_

Neji woke up groggily. The sunlight streaming in blinded his eyes for moments. He was in his bed. The clock beside him read 8:41 am.

He blinked his eyes groggily. Then he bolted up in his bed. _Shit, _he thought as he changed at a neck-breaking speed.

He rushed out of his room and crashed right into Anaki. "Oww…," she muttered as she picked herself up.

"You don't need to go to morning practice today," Anaki informed Neji who was about to run off again. "Hiashi-sama has a mission debriefing in Tsunade-sama's office."

Neji noticed the new outfit that Anaki wore. She had a tight black t-shirt on underneath and a thin beige vest on top. She had matching beige pants that were tight at the top but got baggier more towards the bottom. Neji suddenly remembered the events of the night before.

"Yesterday night…" Neji began. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the falling asleep part. I needed you to be completely relaxed," Anaki explained apologetically.

"Did you find out anything useful?" Neji asked quite interested.

"I did do a bit of researching," she admitted. "The Hyuga's seal is very complex. In order to remove the seal, you would need about five days straight."

Neji was impressed. "So the seal can be removed?" he asked excitement shining from his eyes.

"I'm sure I'll be able to find a way," she replied with an enthusiastic grin. "I'm actually glad to find a challenge."

_My seal could be removed… _Neji thought, the possibility running though his brain.

"Umm… Neji, before you get too excited, wouldn't the main family be, oh I dunno… Kinda upset if they were to find out if they knew the seal could be removed?" Anaki asked suggestively.

That question brought Neji down to earth again. "Anaki, could we keep this a secret?" Neji implored.

Anaki looked uncertain for a moment. "I suppose," she gave in.

Right after Neji and Anaki stepped out of the Hyuga compound, Kakashi appeared with a 'poof' and smoke.

"Anaki-chan, correct?" confirmed Kakashi. "I will be testing you on your abilities to see which rank you will be placed in under Tsunade-sama's orders."

Anaki and Neji both looked startled. Anaki gave a nod.

"Follow me," Kakashi ordered.

All of the training grounds were occupied. The day was too nice to be spent indoors and it seemed the ninjas of Konohas all agreed.

Finally, they asked Shino, Hinata and Kiba if they could borrow the training ground for a while. They agreed on the condition that they could watch the evaluation. Neji, who had followed them silently, took a seat beside Team 8.

Kakashi took out a bell attached to a string and tied it to his waist. Neji smirked. After the fight yesterday, he knew there was no way she would have difficulty with such an easy task.

"You need to take the bell from me by any means necessary," Kakashi explained in a bored voice. He uncovered his Sharingan. "You can begin."

As soon as he said that, Anaki was nothing but a blur. He moved just in time by using his Sharingan to avoid her punch.

Anaki whirled around and stopped. In her hand she had not only the bell but a copy of _Icha__Icha__ Paradise _which Kakashi always carried around in his hip pouch.

His eyes widened at the sight of his treasured possession in her hands. "Hey, give that back!" Kakashi yelled.

Anaki flipped open the book to a particularly graphic scene. Her eyes widened and she yelled out, "You pervert!"

She chucked the book at the spectators as she yelled, "Look at Kakashi-sensei's reading materials!"

Kiba grabbed the book and flipped it open. Hinata and Shino huddled around it. No one had ever gotten hold of Kakashi's books before.

Neji pretended to be uninterested but his curiosity gave and he peered over Team 8's shoulders.

Hinata turned as red as a tomato after the first two sentences. She then fainted after envisioning Naruto and herself.

Shino, Kiba and Neji got massive nosebleeds and ran to the hospital. Kiba had to be dragged there as he had fainted from massive blood loss.

Kakashi picked up the book and started to walk away leaving behind Anaki in the middle of the field.

"Come back here tomorrow," Kakashi called over his shoulder. He walked away with his face buried in the book.

Anaki made her way to Ichiraku Ramen stand. Naruto was absent due to the fact that he had left for a mission with Sakura and two new members. Something about the Heaven and Earth Bridge or so she heard.

Anaki took a seat and ordered a bowl.

* * *

"How is she?" Tsunade asked Kakashi.

"She's good enough to be jounin," he answered with mild interest. "I still need to do a harder test tomorrow with more jounins tomorrow though."

Tsuande smiled confidently at him. "She will probably be good enough to be more than a jounin."

_

* * *

_

_--Somewhere in __Amegakure__ at the hidden hideout of __Akatsuki__—_

"Tobi is hungry!" announced the annoying Akatsuki member with the orange mask.

"Shut up Tobi!" growled Deidara.

"But Tobi is hungry and Hidan-senpai ate everything in the fridge" he whined.

"You have a problem with that you motherfucking basterd?" Hidan yelled at him.

"Eep! Hidan-senpai is angry at Tobi! Help Tobi Deidara-senpai!"

Deidara gave a sigh. "Go solve your own problems," he muttered and walked out of the kitchen.

Akatsuki were lying low after Itachi came back without the girl and an injured Kisame. Leader was furious but not for long, thankfully for the members.

They were all on the alert for this one girl named Anaki Jiiku. The search for the Bijuu were important but Leader stressed that she was just as important and that they were to capture her alive. He had stressed the 'alive' part very strongly.

Sasori was dead and at times like this when Tobi was annoying, Deidara almost missed him. Almost.

"I want everyone on basement one. Now," ordered a voice that seemed to come out of thin air. Deidara just sighed. He soon met up with Kisame in the hallways.

"Are you still groaning about your injuries or can you shut up for one minute now?" taunted Deidara.

"You should watch that mouth of yours," Kisame growled dangerously.

"Which one?" Deidara smirked.

"You may think it's funny but I wouldn't be laughing if you had to go one-on-one with that girl," Kisame retorted. "She'd probably get that stupid clay figures and shove it up your ass."

"Don't insult my art!" Deidara yelled indignantly.

They insulted each other back and forth all the way to Basement 1.

Upon arriving, Itachi stared at the squabbling couple. "Shut up," he said coldly. They both gulped and closed their mouths.

The Leader appeared to them in the shadows again. "Tobi and Deidara, Sanbi no Isonade, the three –tailed demon has been sighted. You two are to go capture it."

"Tobi will do his best!" Tobi shouted out enthusiastically. Diedara groaned.

"Since Itachi and Kisame had too much difficulty handling one girl…" the Leader said with a hint of a smirk in his voice. "Hidan and Kakuzu will go to Konoha and capture the girl, alive," he ordered.

Kisame smirked. _They might capture the girl but I don't know about the __alive__ part. If they kill her, Leader's __gonna__ be so mad… _Kisame thought with satisfaction.

"Itachi, Kisame, I want to talk to you two privately. Everyone else is dismissed," the Leader ordered.

The rest of the Akatsuki walked out quietly giving Kisame the "You're in BIG trouble!" gleeful looks. No one dared to do the look to Itachi though.

"I want to know what happened in detail," the Leader commanded.

Kisame looked at Itachi nervously. Itachi looked as if he didn't want to talk. "Okay, so we were chasing after her just like you ordered…" Kisame began a little nervously.

After an hour of talking done by Kisame, the Leader dismissed them. Itachi walked off without a glance.

When the Leader was sure that no one was around, he turned to the darkest corner of the cavern-like room.

"Is it the power that you seek?" the Leader asked the figure.

"Yes Pein," said the figure. He had an arrogant tone in his voice.

"I'm actually glad that she's that powerful. After all I will take the Tomeitari and the stronger it is, the better," the figure said with dark amusement.

"Wouldn't it be better for the Tomeitari to be fused with the Bijuu to make them even stronger?" Pein, the leader, suggested with a hint of annoyance.

"Are you questioning me?" asked the figure in the shadows sharply.

"No," Pein replied.

_For now, _he thought darkly as the figure retreated to the shadows.

Then he too, disappeared.

* * *

A/N: How was it? Reviews are welcome! BTW, I did change the rating from T to M because of the cussing. (Mostly done by Hidan.) Yay for Akatsuki! My favourite Akatsuki member is Itachi! (Fan girl drool) I plan on incorporating Itachi and Sasuke into the story as well!

Deidara has already lost an arm from the Garra rescue ark. Anaki's arrival was situated right after the Garra Rescue ark. Anaki and Neji are both seventeen. Naruto and the rest of his friends are a year younger.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own Naruto… NOT!

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**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 9**

Anaki woke up early. She ran to the training ground where she had been the day before. The sun was not still up and the air was still chilly.

She began to start training with the wooden punching posts. Her hands were a blur and soon, the post cracked and broke into pieces.

"You're going to have to pay for that you know," said a voice behind her. Anaki whirled around, sweat flying from her face. "Hey, are you okay?" Kurenai Yuhi asked with concern.

Anaki's normally calm face was contorted with something along the lines of desperation, grief and anger. Her eyes were wide with what seemed like fury.

Anaki shook her head and turned away. "I'm fine," she muttered and walked off in the opposite direction.

_Should I go after her? _Kurenai wondered. _Oh well, I bet it's nothing. __Asuma__ better be there on time, _she thought and walked off to the amin streets of Konoha.

_

* * *

__Dammit __dammit __dammit! _Anaki's thought swirled with the heat rising from the hot water. She had thought a hot shower would help her calm down but the steam that rose steadily from the hot water kept on swirling into memories. Memories she wanted to forget. 

Anaki closed her eyes. When she opened them she wished she hadn't. The huge grand mansion of the Jiiku family was burning. Fire was mixed with blood. His evil laughter, accompanied by the roaring flames…

Her father still desperately fighting to the last breath, blood gushing from the wounds of his missing limbs… Her mother screaming at her to take Yumiki-chan and run… Her last defiant look at him before he reached down her throat and pulled out her organs…

His gleeful murderous look at the shock from her mother's face…

Running… As fast as she could… Trying to escape from the fire and blood… Her sister a dead weight hanging limp in her arms…

He caught up to her so quickly… Like the flame carried by a furious wind…

The fear… Not only his powers but… The menacing aura itself…

Just thinking about it made her feel weak. As if he was right beside her… Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the handle of the tap. She could see him… The flames flickering and casting dark shadows across his face…

The knock on the door broke her from her nightmares.

"Anaki-chan? Are you all right? You've been in there for an awfully long time…" Hinata's concerned voice came from outside the closed door.

"Oh, I'm fine!" Anaki called back in hopefully, what was a steady voice.

She turned off the water, quickly dried her hair and got dressed.

Outside, Hinata was fussing over her. "A-are you really fine? You look quite p-pale Anaki-chan."

"I'm really fine," Anaki replied with a grin. There was no trace of the antagonizing nightmare that she had suffered only moments before.

She turned around the corner and as soon as Hinata was out of sight, her face twisted into a one of anguish and despair.

_No more crying, _she told herself angrily. _Crying won't help anymore. Just get stronger! _

She headed back to the training ground again. Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai were waiting for her.

"Oh, it's you from this morning!" Kurenai said with obvious surprise. "Kakashi, she's the one we have to fight?"

Introductions were made. "Okay. Today you're going against the three of us," Kakashi explained. "Hey, are you sure we need three jounin level ninjas? I mean, she's just one girl," Asuma interrupted lighting a cigarette.

"Trust me," Kakashi said reavealing his Sharingan. "She was even with both Kisame and Itachi." Asuma and Kurenai looked a little shocked.

"Um, that's only because I was going all out," Anaki interrupted.

Asuma just grinned. He took out his trench knives and took up his stance. "Looks like I'll be able to get a good fight today," he commented with a chuckle.

"Listen Anaki," Kakashi said. "We're evaluating your maximum potential. You can go all out."

"Are you sure?" Anaki asked a little concerned.

"We're not that weak you know," Kurenai commented.

"Let's begin," Kakashi ordered.

The two male jounins rushed forward. Kurenai made some hand signs and began to perform her genjutsu. Trees shot out of the ground wrapping around Anaki's body making her unable to move.

About two seconds later, the trees shimmered and disappeared. Anaki jumped back just in time to avoid Asuma's trench knives.

Kakashi jumped up throwing several shruikens which she had to parry with a kunai.

Asuma jumped up behind her preparing to slash. She whirled around aiming a kick at Asuma's arms. He dodged and they all landed on the ground.

Suddenly, cherry blossoms appeared. They whirled and twisted in the air as if they were dancing. They enveloped Anaki making her unable to move. She started to look as if she was going to suffocate but suddenly, every single one of them sliced into two and disappeared.

Kurenai was astounded. She was using her strongest genjutus and yet, the girl was brushing them off as if they were nothing! However, she had stalled her long enough for Asuma to attack.

He slashed her across the abdomen. Her face was contorted with shock as blood sprayed across. Then she disappeared with a poof and a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi's eyes were narrowed with concentration. _That was a shadow clone! When did she make one? My __Sharingan__ should have detected it… _

His eyes widened and he jumped up just in time to avoid Anaki's hand that shot out from the ground.

_Crap! _He thought as the shadow clone that rose out of the ground disappeared. Anaki was already behind him ready to land a punch.

Kakashi's hands were a blur as he fromed hand seals and turned around. _Katon: __Gokakyuu__ no __Jutsu! __(Fire style!__Fireball Technique!)_

The great ball of flame seemed to swallow her. "Hey, don't you think that was overkill?" Kurenai asked a little concerned.

"I think-" Whatever Kakashi was about to say was cut off as Anaki appeared, perfectly fine, behind him and punched him hard.

He slammed into the ground making an impact crater. Asuma ran over beside him.

"Knocked out cold," he muttered. "Hey Kurenai," he called. "She's probably got a punch about as powerful as Tsunade-sama. Be careful!"

Kurenai's eyes widened. Anaki landed neatly on the ground. _Geez, just how strong is she?_ Kurenai wondered.

Asuma ran forward with his trench knives ready. Anaki whiupped out her hand and caught the flat of the trench knives between her fingers. He aimed a kick at Anaki but she was a blur, gone before his foot reached the place she had been standing before.

Kurenai didn't notice her presence until a second too late. Anaki had a kunai pressed against her throat. "Take off the trech knives Asuma-sensei," she said calmly.

Asuma scowled. _Man, she really got me there._

"Okay, that's about enough," Kakashi said as he climbed out of the crater. They all lowered their weapons.

"You're not hurt seriously are you Kakashi-sensei?" Anaki asked.

He nodded his head. _I'm getting rusty, _he thought with a sigh. _I can't believe I was defeated that easily. _

"Come to the Hokage tower in about two hours," Kakashi informed her and walked off.

"Hey," Kurenai called out to the girl. "Wanna go get lunch?" she invited.

"Sure!" Anaki said enthusiastically.

"What about me?" Asuma asked sadly. "Go get your own food!" Kurenai said petulantly and walked off with Anaki.

"Women, I will never understand," Asuma said with a sigh as he lit another cigarette.

Anaki and Kurenai were strolling down the busy streets of Konoha.

"You're extremely strong," Kurenai commented.

"Thanks!" Anaki replied happily.

"But you know, that type of strength doesn't come naturally," Kurenai said.

"Well, my training wasn't exactly a stroll in the park," Anaki replied quietly. "Oh, can we go get some dango?" she suddenly said.

"Sure," Kurenai replied with a grin. They entered a dango shop. The only table with space was occupied by one person.

"Hey, Kurenai!" Mitarashi Anko cried out happily. Kurenai sighed and walked over to her table with Anaki following at the rear.

"So, who's this?" Anko asked with a slightly insane smile. "I'm Anaki Jiiku. Nice to meet you!"she replied politely.

"So you're showing this kid around Konoha?" Anko asked Kurenai after she ordered some more dango.

"No. Asuma, Kakashi and I tested her on the Hokage's orders," Kurenai replied.

Anko's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, does that mean the Hokage's interested in keeping her as a Konoha ninja?"

Kurenai shrugged her shoulders. "Probably."

"So did you beat the shit out of the kid?" Anko asked a little too excitedly. "Complete opposite," Kurenai replied dryly.

Anko looked quite excited at the news. "Hey, kiddo," she said getting Anaki's attention. "How about we have a spar sometime?"

Kurenai shivered at Anko's leering, grinning face. They were friends and all but sometimes she could be really creepy.

Anaki didn't seem fazed at all. "Sure!" she replied happily. The dango arrived, Kurenai was astounded.

Anko and Anaki were dango-eating monsters. They were both trying to eat as many as they could. Kurenai didn't dare try to reach for one as she feared for her arm's safety.

In a heartbeat, there was one dango left. Anko and Anaki were staring at each other studying each other's movements.

"Hey it's just a dango…" Kurenai tried to say. "MINE!" they both screamed at the same time.

Anaki reached out with amazing speed. Anko, on instinct, realized she was going to get it first and performed hand signs.

Snakes shot out of her sleeves mouths hissing. They both reached for it at the same time and that caused the plate to fly into the air.

The dango was flying, thrown from the plate. Anaki and Anko both watched the dango fall into Kurenai's hand. She popped it into her mouth.

Anko was furious. "No one gets away with stealing my dango!" she screeched. Anaki however wasn't paying attention. The dango incident seemed to have been forgotten as she started to walk out.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Anko yelled and chased after her. Kurenai sighed. She felt a little sorry for Anaki-chan. After all, Anko's obsession with dango was legendary.

* * *

"I've had enough of you and your stupid god!" Kakuzu yelled at his partner. "Money is the only important thing!" 

"Jashin is greater than anything you basterd!" Hidan cried back

"I've had enough of you, you son of a bitch!" Kakuzu snapped as black threads shot out from underneath his cloak. The threads sliced off Hidan's head neatly.

"Maybe you'll shut up about your stupid god now!" Kakuzu grumbled.

"You basterd!" Hidan's decapitated head screeched at him. "Do you know how much that hurts you fucking retard!?"

"You seem to have no trouble when it comes to stabbing yourself in your rituals," Kakuzu grumbled as he picked up the still swearing head.

"Be careful you dumbass!" Hidan's head screamed. "Keep that attitude up and your head will mysteriously vanish," Kakuzu threatened him menacingly. Hidan, still disgruntled, resorted to swearing more obscenities under his breath.

"That's better," Kakuzu said. He placed the head on top of the neck. Black strings shot out from Kakuzu's cloak and started to weave in and out of the skin re-attaching the head.

After the operation was finished, Hidan and Kakuzu resumed to arguing and travelling closer to Konoha.

* * *

"Well?" Tsuande asked Kakashi. 

"She's more than just good. She could be a rank of a special jounin if she wanted to," Kakshi replied.

"I expected nothing less from someone who is a part of the Jiiku clan," Tsunade said contently.

Tsunade began to ask detailed questions on Anaki's abilities. Kakshi answered them but Tsunade still had a feeling he wasn't telling his whole opinion.

"Someone's coming," Tsunade said quickly. "You're dismissed for now."

Kakshi disappeared without a second thought.

"Tsunade-sama? You wanted to see me?" Anaki peeked her head into the Hokage's office.

"Come in!" Tsunade said. "Do you like Konoha? How have you been doing?"

"It's exactly like what you've told me except a thousand times better!" Anaki replied with a grin.

"I'm glad. If you like Konoha, why don't you join and become a Konoha ninja?"

"Really? You mean it?" Anaki said with disbelief. "Absolutely," Tsunade said holding out a Konoha headband.

"Thank you so much!" she said and gave her a big hug. _It's the least I can do for you and Kyoko, _Tsunade thought as she hugged her back.

"I've always wanted to be a Konoha ninja," she chattered excitedly as she tied up the headband.

"Okay! Now that you are an official ninja of Konoha, you have a mission coming up. Do you know the Land of Wind?" Tsunade asked.

"I know the region and I don't like it. Too much sand."

"Well the Kazekage requested a team of ninjas to deal with some rouge ninjas," Tsunade explained.

"I thought Sunagakure had a formidable array of ninjas at their disposal?" Anaki asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I'll explain after your teammates arrive," she said.

Soon enough, Lee, Sakura, and Neji came into the room.

Tsunade began the mission debriefing.

"Neji's Byakugan will be a good asset as there are a lot of hiding places in the desert and you aren't very familiar with the terrain. Sakura will be the medic-nin. Neji you're the team leader."

They all nodded. "Your mission is to track down and capture a rouge ninja from the Sand and two unknown accomplices. They tried to assassinate the Kazekage."

"Garaa-kun is fine," Tsunade continued. "But at least twenty strong Sand ninja has been killed and numerous were injured. Garaa would love to hunt them down but there's a high possibility they will attack again and the Sand village needs him. Also, the attackers are not just your normal rouge ninjas looking for a bit of revenge. They are very strong and the Sand doesn't have ninjas that are strong enough to deal with them. Even if they are, they are all needed inside the village. That's why they requested help from us," Tsunade finished.

"You leave in half an hour. Time is of the essence. Rest of the instructions will be given at Sunagakure,"

"We'll do our best!" Sakura said confidently.

Back at the Hyuga compound, Anaki was packing up. Hinata enter the room just as she was about to leave.

"Anaki-chan! I h-heard that you're now an official kunoichi of Konoha! Congratulations!"

"Thanks Hinata-chan!"

"Hinata? Father wants you now," said a voice from behind them.

"Oh, Hanabi-chan, I'll be right there in a moment," Hinata said.

"Is this your little sister?" Anaki asked. "Yes. Hanabi is younger than me by two years."

"Oh, I better go! I have a mission to go on!" Anaki scrambled for her bag.

"Good luck!" Hinata called out behind her.

Neji was already outside. "What took you so long?" he asked her.

"I met Hanabi-chan," she said tartly. She fell silent the whole way to the west gate looking as little sullen.

_God, did I say something wrong? She seems __kinda__ sad. Maybe I should apologize… _Neji was pondering over Anaki's sudden spell of sullenness.

_Having a little sister… _Anaki thought. Her vision blurred slightly and she rubbed her eyes.

_Oh my god, _Neji was panicking inside. _I'm pretty sure I saw a tear there. Was it me? Please don't start crying…_ he prayed.

Thankfully, for Neji, Anaki did not have a strong outburst of emotion of any kind.

They arrived at the west gate. Lee was talking about youthfulness. Sakura seemed very happy when Neji and Anaki arrived.

"Let's go," Neji said. "Alright! We will defeat evildoers with our power of youth!" Lee cried.

The four ninjas blurred out of sight.

* * *

A/N: Yes there were spoilers in this one for those who still do not know about Kakuzu and Hidan. All reviews are welcome! 


	11. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto. But that's all right. Masashi Kishimoto is doing a good job of it.

**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 10 **

--_Somewhere in the Land of Rain at the Akatsuki's hideout-- _

"This is stupid. Why do I have to be the jail keeper?" grumbled a blue haired kunoichi with a lip piercing, a white paper flower in her hair, and an Akatsuki robe on. She was carrying a tray of food to one of the deep dungeon cells in Basement 5.

The basement was cold and mouldy. It was very dimly lit and the hallway was covered with vines and creepers. She stopped in front of a steel door. She placed the tray on the floor, made some hand signs, and placed her palm on the door.

It creaked open. The candle was flickering weakly as if it was about to go out. A pale figure of a girl was huddled on the rusty bed. "You better eat the food or someone's going to come down and force-feed it to you. Understand?" The girl made no response but stared blankly ahead.

The kunoichi placed the tray on the table. She walked out and the door creaked shut. The candle flicked weakly one more time and then went out plunging the room into darkness.

Outside of the room, someone was waiting for the kunoichi. "Konan, how long do you think she'll last?" The question was asked by the Leader. He 

had spiky orange hair and numerous face piercings. His eyes had many rings around the pupil.

"Pein, if you're going to use her, I suggest that you do it fast. By the looks of it, she's not going to last for long." "If Hidan and Kakuzu fail to retrieve her, we'll use her to lure Anaki out," Pein said.

"Even if Hidan captures the girl, he's probably going to kill her because of his stupid god. If not, she'll probably piss off Kakuzu and get killed," Konan replied with a snort.

"Don't think that the girl will be killed so easily," Pein replied softly.

"Whatever," Konan muttered. Her whole body started peeling away into countless sheets of origami paper that folded themselves into butterflies. They swirled on the spot until not a single sheet was left.

Pein walked off down the hallway alone and disappeared into the darkness.

_--Three days after leaving from Konoha--_

Neji, Anaki, Sakura and Lee were only about an hour's walk away from Sunagakure. Sakura took the time to explain about the chunin exam and Gaara.

"Wow, he sure sounded like a troubled kid," Anaki commented. "Well he's not like that anymore," Sakura reassured her. "He's become the Kazekage 

and earned everyone's respect." She then started to explain the most recent meeting with Gaara, when he was kidnapped by the Akatsuki and how she, Naruto and some other members of Konoha had to rescue him. Anaki was looking forward to meeting this troubled, young Kazekage.

Meanwhile, the troubled, young Kazekage was ready to tear his hair out, scream like a little girl and throw a temper tantrum. The citizens of Sunagakure were very concerned about their great leader after the incident with the Akatsuki kidnapping. The assassination attempt seemed to have pushed them right over the edge.

The council members decided to assign ninjas to guard him at all times, without his permission, of course. When Kankuro had told him what they had agreed to do, Gaara was very pissed off. He liked being the Kazekage and receiving all the respect but this, he decided, was going too far. The ninjas crowded around him were getting on his nerves and he hated to be with other people for long periods of time. He was quite solitary after all.

"I can take care of myself," Gaara told his brother coldly trying to argue out of the ridiculous arrangement. "I know that but everyone's just concerned about you. Think of it as reassuring the village," Kankuro replied wearily.

Knowing that it was useless to continue the argument, Gaara moved onto another subject. "When are the Konoha ninjas due to arrive?" he said icily, 

still holding some resentfulness at his brother. "Very soon," Kankuro said as he turned towards the gate.

* * *

The team of Konoha ninjas stopped outside the village. Baki and four other Sunakagure ninjas intercepted them. Baki recognized Sakura, Lee and Neji from the time that they rescued Gaara, but he did not recognize the new kunoichi.

He studied her carefully under a suspicious eye. She didn't seem to be a threat but one could never be too careful. He gave her one more scrutinising glare which she ignored completely. "Follow me," he said to the group. "Gaara-sama is waiting for you."

Anaki had never been to Sunagakure before. She had been aroud the Land of Wind but never inside Sunagakure. She really liked the village except for the large quantities of sand. Sand was one thing she did not like. It was gritty, small and got in your clothes, shoes and hair. Combined with sweat from the heat of the desert and it would stick on you like glue.

The outside of the Kazekage's office was heavily guarded by many jounins. They were admitted into the office. Barely. Inside was better. Only Kankuro and Gaara resided in the room which had a strange icy atmosphere.

Gaara greeted them warmly. "It's good to see you Sakura-san," he said. "Isn't Naruto-san with you?" "No," Sakura replied. "Naruto had another mission to do." "Next time you see him, please thank him for me from last time. Also, how is Kakashi-san doing? I heard he's bedridden right now."

"Kakashi-sensei is already up and about. Tsunade-sama says otherwise and wants him to not go on missions for a short time. Also may I present one of our newest Konoha members? Anaki Jiiku-san," said Sakura as she stepped to the side.

Anaki wasn't there. No one seemed to have notice that she had stealthily changed positions so that she was now staring out at the widows behind the Kazekage's desk.

"Sorry," she said as she turned around casually to confront the gazes of several pairs of eyes. Neji and Lee admired the way for how Anaki was standing up to Sakura's death aura. If they were in her position, they would have both melted by now. Not that they ever would do such a rude thing. Lee adored Sakura too much to disobey her and Neji would never do such a thing because that wasn't the way Hyuugas should act.

"I didn't mean to be rude," she said as she came back around the desk and faces Gaara. "It's just that I happened to notice an extraordinary amount of ninjas guarding this building and I just wanted to take a closer look."

"There's no way you would have known that," interrupted Kankuro. "They're all mostly jounins and I made sure that they were to blend in with the civilians."

"It was kinda obvious, though," Anaki shot back. "I could feel them boring their eyes into me as we were walking in. And some of them weren't looking all that casual."

Kankuro stilled looked a tad suspicious. "Well, shall we move onto the details of the mission?"" Sakura said hurriedly. Gaara turned towards the Konoha ninjas. "The attack happened five days ago. Whoever it was, they would have had ample time to escape." He then turned his gaze specifically to Sakura. "It was a two man team. They hid themselves while fighting very well but the interesting part was I was sure I had fought with one of the attackers before. Of course, the strength was much more incredible than before." Sakura looked puzzled.

"At the chunnin exams, in the third exam, well, I think I know who I'm talking about." Gaara said. Sakura stiffened as she breathed out a single word. "Sasuke-kun..."

* * *

After a few hours of preparation, the Konoha ninjas were ready to go. Sakura knew that Naruto, Yamato (associate of Kakashi-sensei), Sai (the emotionless boy) and Ino(the pig) had gone to the Heaven and Earth Bridge to meet with Sasori's spy. She had so dearly wanted to go but because of last minute changes, she was replaced by Ino. Now, here was a chance to track down Sasuke and maybe even run into Naruto and his team along the way. After all, Sasuke was probably with Orochimaru or Kabuto at all times and Naruto's team were tracking them down. It was perfect.

Anaki knew the way to the Bridge so she was to lead them. "If we push ourselves," she said to the Konoha ninjas. "We might be able to get there in three, four days."

"That'll take too long," Neji argued. "I know," Anaki replied with a grin. "So that's why we'll take a different means of transportation."

The group trudged out of the village. "Could everyone please stand back for a bit?" Anaki requested. She bit her thumb, made several hand signs and placed her hand on the ground. There was a large poof and... a huge eagle of magnificent plumage appeared. It was slightly smaller than Gama Bunta but it had a sharp beak and dangerous-looking claws that gleamed wickedly in the sunlight. Its savage golden eyes scanned the scenery. Anaki jumped down to the three ninjas.

"Meet Harukisage. Call him Haru though."

"Anaki," screeched the huge eagle. "Have you summoned me again to get to places? I refuse to be used as a method of transportation!"

"You know that I rely on you all the time," Anaki pleaded to the eagle. "We're on a critical mission and I need your assistance. We all do."

"Will there be fighting?" he screeched. Anaki contemplated the question. "We need to capture the enemy alive and I don't think you can do that. You usually kill your opponents."

"I won't give you a ride then," he said stubbornly.

"Fine. As long as you downsize and promise you won't kill or maim them permanently, you have my word you'll get a piece of the action."

"Hop on," said Anaki to the slightly awestruck ninjas. "Oh, don't pull out and of his feathers. He'll probably kill you for less."

They clambered on gingerly and made themselves as comfortable as they could on the back of a giant eagle.

Haru gave a mighty screech and lifted off into the air. Anaki yelled instructions down to the eagle on top of his head and clambered down to the back. "We'll probably get to the bridge in about less than a day now," she explained.

"This summoning takes up a lot of my chakra so I can't keep Haru out for more than a day. I won't be able to fight when we get there. Is that all right with you?" she asked Sakura.

"It's either this or running, right?"

"Right."

"By all means then, it's all right with me. Besides, this eagle's pretty comfy."

Haru turned his head slightly to Sakura and gave an ear splitting screech. "I am not a pillow!"



* * *

A/N: I just finished reading Naruto manga chapter 398 and OMG, the story actually had some progress! Anyways the action's coming up and for some reason, I have a feeling everyone's going to be able to guess what's comin up nxt. Reviews are **always **welcome!


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